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3 things I learned from using MANY interconnect cables

At last, I am posting here for the first time! I got so much help from this forum and always felt a bit guilty about not contributing.

Over the past several years, I have used the following interconnect cables: Audioquest Golden Gate, Audioquest Columbia, Audioquest Sky, Monster Interlink 300 MkIII, Harmonic Technology Pro Silway (I have used both Mk I and Mk II), Silnote Morpheus, Anticables (the original version), Tara Labs RSC, Nordost Heimdall, Straightwire Crescendo, and Chord Anthem. They were all purchased used and I always had 2 or more pairs to compare at a given time although I didn’t have these cables all at once. Through the journey, I learned the following:

1. The price was NOT indicative of the sound quality unless you go very cheap (less than $100). I think this point is self-explanatory so I am not adding any elaboration.

2. Disconnecting and re-connecting the cables had a very positive impact on sound quality, which will affect any AB comparison. If you are comparing two pairs of cables that had comparable sound quality, the new cables will sound better because the connection would be fresh.

3. In my experience, the cables were NOT system dependent. This might raise some eye brows as it goes against the commonly held belief so I am going to explain a bit here.

All I am saying is that I have never seen a case where my preference order of two sets of interconnect cables got reversed when tested on two or more components (e.g. cable A was better than cable B on amp X but cable B was better on amp Y, etc). With any AB comparison I ever did, the better cable always won no matter what component I was testing them on.

Oh in case someone is curious, the best pair of interconnect cables I have ever used was Chord Anthem. It had a wider frequency range and a more natural tonality than others. And I would rather not add the qualification "but it was the best only in my system" because of the 3rd point I made above. Cheers!
johnson0134

Showing 13 responses by johnson0134

johnson0134 OP
17 posts
 
@elizabeth 

The personal observations other members posted here meant something to me and helped me more than any professional review I've read. That's why I shared mine here. Just to contribute a little after many years of getting free help from other members. I am totally fine with people disagreeing with me or even finding no value in a post like this as I believe (and hope) this can be helpful to some people.

johnson0134 OP
17 posts
 
@roberjerman

For me the runner up was Harmonic Technology Pro Silway. But I have a feeling many people would prefer Audioquest Sky or Columbia actually. To me, they sounded a bit too smooth, pleasant and soft compared to other brands
johnson0134 OP
17 posts
 
@jayctoy 

Yup I know. And I don't mind people disagreeing with me :-)
And maybe my understanding of the definition of "system dependent" is different from that of others and maybe even wrong. I am just trying to report my observations in case they are helpful. Proving that I am right doesn't...interest me much.
johnson0134 OP
17 posts
 
@geoffkait 

All of the ones I tried had the signal flow printed on the cables and I never bothered experimenting with going against what the manufacturer was telling me to do. But it would be interesting.
johnson0134 OP
17 posts
 
@lancelock
Thanks! I will try Cerious if I ever see it coming up here for sale

johnson0134 OP
17 posts
 
@roxy54
@soix
@ghosthouse
@lancelock
@shkong78

Thanks for the kind words and suggestions. It was my first time making a post here and didn't know the discussion thread would get active this quickly :-(  I honestly don't think I can keep up with all these new comments and respond to them when I am summoned. So I just wanted to thank you guys before I disappear for a while.

One final comment: I don't think the purpose of a forum like this is to compete against each other on proving who's right. I believe it's rather finding a solution by working TOGETHER so we can accomplish our common goal - enjoy the music in excellent sound.

Take care! Tschüss! 안녕히 계세요!


johnson0134 OP
17 posts
 
I think I should add some clarification to point #3. If "system dependent" means someone might prefer cable A while another might prefer cable B, then yes, I agree that cables are system dependent, wholeheartedly.

What I meant in the original post was simply that there was no preference order change between two pairs of cables ever happening to me, given that my taste in sound remains constant. That's all I was saying.
johnson0134 OP
17 posts
 
@jtcf 
"do you mean if you swap ic A between various components in your system that it always sounds the same?For instance ic A between Dac and pre sounds exactly the same as between pre and amp?Just curious:)I always have a preference as to where the cable sounds best. "

No that's not what I meant and I don't have a lot of experience with putting in the same pair of cables at different points in my system as I usually have a DAC directly connected to a power amp.

What I meant was that when I had two different amps and two different pairs of IC cables, one pair sounded better than the other on BOTH amps, and it has been always the case. That's ALL I am saying.
johnson0134 OP
17 posts
 
@motokokusanagi

Yes you are right; we don't hoard all the cables we purchase. I don't think my wife would understand it although she's generally very understanding toward my hobby, and even encourages me to buy the top of the line (and expensive) stuff :-)
johnson0134 OP
17 posts
 
@rnabokov I guess I should have written "I felt like I was hearing the upper and bottom frequencies more clearly with these cables". Never meant to be scientific. And I am open to the possibility that all this is in my imagination ;-)
johnson0134 OP
17 posts
 
@millercarbon "Simply handling a cable, wiggling it around connecting and disconnecting, is enough to affect the sound" - That’s interesting and I would love to try it. But I don’t know how easy it would be to separate these two different actions (re-connecting vs wiggling). Honestly I would not have paid much attention to such a proposal ten+ years ago when I used to believe everything in audio forums was kind of fairy tales. But many of them turned out to be true in my experience; except the 16 bit vs 24 bit difference - I was never able to pass a blind test even though I thought I was hearing a difference when I wasn’t "blinded". 

"Want to hear something really good, try any wire with Synergistic Research on it." - Funny you mentioned it because I literally JUST got a power cord from SR, my first time using their product. A wonderful improvement it brought about!
johnson0134 OP
17 posts
 
@geoffkait 

Ah ok but all of them had an arrow printed on them. 
johnson0134 OP
17 posts
 
@inna 

About more expensive cables being better than others IN GENERAL, I am actually open to that possibility. I was only saying the price wasn't a reliable indicator of sound quality with the cables I have personally used. I am only reporting my observations and experiences. Sorry if I sounded like I was trying to make a general statement.

About #2, I am actually pretty confident that the idea (=disconnecting and freshly connecting cables) will help in many other systems. I just made fresh connections of ALL of my cables (IC, speaker,  power cords, etc) and the improvement I am hearing is VERY noticeable. And I don't believe the tips of all my cables are dirty or faulty. The idea really doesn't cost anything so one might as well try it and see what happens.
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